Because the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK ) or People’s Korea has been taken out of the news because of the Ukraine conflict and to some extent even before that, it does not mean that the danger of conflict on the Korean peninsula has decreased or the US under the Biden regime is not threatening People’s Korea. The mainstream media probably deliberately keeps silent on the Korean peninsula so that should a conflict or an untoward incident occur, it will be easy to paint the DPRK as the ‘aggressor’ and an ‘irrational ‘ or ‘unpredictable ‘ state. This kind of thing is part and parcel of the industrial-scale demonisation of the DPRK that is carried out by the mainstream media at the behest of its masters.
In fact, the danger of war and threat to People’s Korea has increased greatly and taken a sinister turn. It is probably at its highest since the end of the Korean War or Fatherland Liberation War in 1953. I should like to point out here that this 27th of July will see the 70th anniversary of the Korean people’s victory in the Fatherland Liberation War.
This week south Korea staged the aerial exercise ‘ Soaring Eagle ‘ with 60 aircraft which included F-35A Lightning IIs, F-15K Slam Eagles, KF-16s, KA-1 close air support aircraft and KC-330 refuelers
US President ‘Sleepy Joe ‘ Biden said on the 26th of April at the so-called summit with the south Korean puppet ruler Yoon that if the DPRK took self -defensive measures against the DPRK, it would be ‘ the end of whatever regime ‘ . Notice Biden’s use of language calling the DPRK whatever regime rather than its proper title . This is a clear-cut and brazen threat to end the existence of the DPRK and commit genocide against the Korean people. It may seem a bit rhetorical or even surreal, however, earlier this year the US imperialists and their south Korean puppets were carrying out exercises for the ‘decapitation ‘ of the DPRK and for occupying Pyongyang . Now as I have always argued, military exercises are carried out to actually prepare for the event of a war just as in a workplace a fire drill is carried out to prepare for the eventuality of a real fire breaking out. As friends of People’s Korea and lovers of peace we should also take note of the fact that in one of these exercises, the Royal Marines from Britain took part . The exercise was held in Pohang, south Korea in March and was “joint infiltration" so basically aimed at the invasion of the DPRK. KFA UK strongly denounces the participation of British forces in these exercises .
This underscores the need for meetings like this , and pickets and increased solidarity with People’s Korea here in Britain . We must never forget to our shame that British troops participated in the Korean War against the DPRK in 1950.
The US -south Korea summit was not a summit between equal partners but a meeting between master and servant , a meeting between a boss and his lackey .It was characterised by one of the most disgusting displays of sycophancy by a south Korean puppet ruler ever seen . Of course all south Korean rulers, even the relatively liberal ones , have been puppets and pro-American . After all south Korea is a puppet regime created by the US .However Yoon , the present ruler of south Korea , outdid all the past puppets such as Syngham Rhee , Park Chung Hee and Chun Do Hwan by singing the song ‘American Pie ‘ in front of the American president in a most nauseating and undignified act especially when you think of all the Korean people killed by the US imperialists.
Apart from taking south Korean puppet flunkeyism and sycophancy to new levels , the summit took the nuclear threat to the DPRK to new levels .The so-called ‘Washington Declaration ‘ adopted at the summit established a “"Nuclear Consultative Group" and ordered the permanent deployment of US nuclear submarines at south Korean puppets as well as nuclear aircraft carriers and nuclear bombers As the Korean Central News Agency on April 30th said “anyone can know well that they are making a nuclear war against the DPRK a fait accompli.’
Of course the deployment of US nuclear submarines on the Korean peninsula is not new , what is new is the open and permanent deployment of US nuclear submarines . In the past year or so US nuclear aircraft carriers and US nuclear submarines have made calls at south Korea ports . In 2010 , a US nuclear submarine secretly operating in south Korean waters collided with a south Korean corvette the Cheonan during exercises causing the Cheonan to sink . As part of a cover-up the DPRK was blamed for the sinking and this was used as a pretext for warmongering and sabre rattling as well as for the imposition of sanctions on the DPRK .
Some people may say that ‘ah well but hasn’t the DPRK developed nuclear weapons ? . The mainstream media like to blame the DPRK over nuclear weapons and complain about nuclear tests carried out by the DPRK . Yes the DPRK has carried out nuclear tests but these have been carried out on its own soil not on outside the country like France and Britain. In fact only 6 nuclear tests have been carried out by the DPRK but the US has carried out 1,072 nuclear tests which is over a 100 times the number carried out by the DPRK .
It is the US that first developed nuclear weapons and actually used them against a non-nuclear state when it bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 . Moreover, the US considered a nuclear first strike against the DPRK during the Korean war of 1950-1953 , during the “Pueblo Incident ‘ of 1968 and the Panmunjom incident of 1976 and other occasions.
It should always be kept in mind that Korea was divided by the US in 1945 and the DPRK was invaded by the US imperialists in 1950. At least 1.2 million civilians were killed and the country was completely devastated. The DPRK’s nuclear deterrent will ensure this does not happen again.
The US designated the DPRK a target of a US nuclear first strike in 2002. The US also scuppered the DPRK-US Agreed Framework that had been brokered in the mid 1990s.
The US is the author of the nuclear question on the Korean peninsula . The US shipped nuclear weapons into south Korea in 1957 in violation of the Korean Armistice Agreement of 1953 . The DPRK did not carry out a nuclear test until October 2006 nearly 60 years later
The US stationed 1,000 nuclear weapons in south Korea , at one point the number reached 1,700 . This was equal to more than one nuclear weapon per 100 square kilometres of the territory of south Korea and in fact a higher density of nuclear weapons than NATO countries at the height of the cold war . South Korea was a giant nuclear arsenal .
. Supposedly the US withdrew these weapons in the 1990s, however the US refused to accept international inspections to confirm this and later stated it would ‘neither confirm nor deny ‘ the existence of its nuclear weapons in south Korea.Later It was disclosed by the "map on present situation of transport and deployment of nukes of the U.S. forces in south Korea" submitted to the south Korean puppet National Assembly on Oct. 9, 2005 that nukes are deployed in major cities of south Korea including Seoul, Taejon, Pusan, Taegu, Kwangju, Chunchon of south Korean Kangwon Province and Osan of Kyonggi Province.
It was also revealed that there is an 8-km underground nuclear depot in the Kunsan U.S. air force base and 2.74 million depleted uranium bullets are stored at U.S. bases including those in Suwon and Osan of Kyonggi Province and Chongju of North Chungchong Province.
A confidential document of the U.S. forces that was opened to the public in December, 2010 made it clear that nukes were being stored at the U.S. military base in Chunchon in April, 2005 and drills were being staged there to use them in contingency.
This year and in past years the US has flown nuclear capable bomber aircraft across the Korean peninsula .Also nuclear powered aircraft carriers the USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Regan have been deployed in south Korean waters in the past year.
In March the US and south Korea resumed the large-scale military exercises that Trump put on hold from 2018 .Although many here will disagree with the domestic politics of Trump and his general personality, Biden is a far worse warmonger than Trump and he is very hostile to the DPRK .
From the 13th of March for 11 days the ' Freedom Shield 'war exercises were actually greater in scale than the old Foal Eagle exercises . A B1 nuclear bomber was involved and the nuclear aircraft carrier Howard Lorenzen .Significantly the exercises included ' leadership removal ' and beheading operations drills which clearly aim at the destruction of the socialist system of the DPRK.
In June and August the US and south Korea will carry out more large scale war exercises.
There is a wider context to the reckless war moves of the US imperialists . The US is keen to create an Asian version of the hated NATO war alliance and has already brought into being the "AUKUS" bloc . Also a NATO office is going to open in Japan . This shows the aggressive intent of the US not only towards the DPRK but the whole of the Asia-Pacific region.
The US has also threatened the DPRK by carrying out multi-national war exercises, specifically RIMPAC which is usually held every 4 years.Last year RIMPAC 22 was staged from 29th of June to the 4th of August , a total of 6 weeks in duration.It involved a total of 26 countries ,such as the US , UK south Korea and Japan plus Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand Philippines and even Israel .It included a total of 38 ships , 4 submarines and 170 aircraft as well as 9 national land forces .
The US continues to occupy south Korea. There are at least 30,000 US personnel in south Korea and 73 US bases in south Korea . These are of course part of a massive global empire of US bases around the world which number at least 750 in 80 different countries with over 100,000 troops deployed . In contrast there are no DPRK military bases in other countries . How would the US feel if there were DPRK troops and bases in Cuba or Mexico or Canada ? How would the US feel if the navy of the Korean People’s Army staged drills off Florida or near New York ?
Right from the first day US troops set foot in south Korea they acted as an occupying force .An American journalist Mark Gayn wrote "We were not a liberation army. We rushed there in order to occupy it, in order to watch whether the Koreans obey the conditions of surrender. From the first days of our landing we have acted as the enemy of the Koreans." US aggression against Korea actually goes right back to the 19th century .In 1866 they sent their pirate ship the General Sherman up the Taedong River. Later in 1881 they concluded the so -called Friendship Treaty with the feudal government in Korea . It was the US that connived at Japan’s occupation and colonisation of Korea in return for Japan giving the US a free hand in the Philippines.
The US has long coveted Korea for a number of reasons . Korea is regarded as a bridgehead into Asia . Korea is a region of great geo-political and strategic significance . If the US occupied the whole of Korea it would mean that US troops could be placed on the borders of the Russian Federation and China . The US could use Korea as a springboard or a launch pad to invade Asia.
Of course underlying US hostility to the DPRK and aggressive intent is the desire of the US imperialists to destroy the socialist system of the DPRK and restore capitalism . It is all about regime change pure and simple . Many of the military exercises being carried out by the US and south Korea included so-called ‘ leadership removal ‘ , ‘decapitation ‘ and the occupation of the DPRK . In fact leaked film of US and south Korean military exercises last year showed US and south Korean troops storming a mock-up of what was clearly meant to be a home in the DPRK.
The US monopolies and multinational corporations would also like to get their hands on the estimated 3 trillion dollars worth of rare earth deposits in the DPRK as well as exploiting the labour and human resources of the northern half of Korea as they do already in south Korea.
We in the Korean Friendship Association of the UK(KFA UK) believe in defending People’s Korea , Korea of Juche with No Ifs or Buts . The DPRK is the most independent country in the world and has a unique socialist system . The DPRK is a country that abolished taxation yet has free healthcare , free education and even free housing .
The struggle to defend People’s Korea and expose the aggressive role of the US on the Korean peninsula is also part of the struggle for world peace and for anti-imperialist independence .
KFA UK demands that all ongoing and planned military exercises by the US and south Korea in south Korea and the surrounding region should be cancelled . US troops should be withdrawn from south Korea along with any US nuclear weapons .
Nex month , June , will see the start of the Month of Solidarity with the Korean people against US imperialism . KFA UK will play its part by picketing the US embassy in London and by an online campaign . We hope that you will support this . We must do more to expose the role of the US in Korea and step up our solidarity with People’s Korea with No Ifs or Buts .
Thank you for listening.